


In which Zuko is the avatar and war isn’t easy

by lokasennascribe



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Aang will help them talk out their trauma, Abuse of Power, Avatar Zuko (Avatar), Azula kills people, Azula was also a victim of abuse, Badass Women, Blood and Gore, Child Soldiers, Dark, Drug Use, Fucked Up, Gen, Genocide, Graphic Description of Corpses, Graphic depictions of war crimes, I love her but she pisses me off, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Jet commits murder, Katara uses blood bending to kill people, Mai is vicious, Murder, Realistic war, Recreational Drug Use, Self-Harm, Sokka is a bit more serious, Sokka might lose his shit, Suicidal Thoughts, Suki is a victim of war crimes, Ty Lee is a descendent of air nomads, Ursa is dead, Ursa tries, Victim Blaming, Violence, War Crimes, Zuko (Avatar)-centric, Zuko will not understand the moral dilemma of murder, but he gets it eventually, death of children, everyone is some flavour of gay, i will probably bully katara, no beta reader we die like FOOLS, not this pg Nickelodeon shit, possible JetKo, sexual war crimes, toph will cuss and kill people
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-16
Updated: 2020-06-16
Packaged: 2021-03-03 18:54:09
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24750388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lokasennascribe/pseuds/lokasennascribe
Summary: In which war is bloody, violent, and terrifying. Zuko is born the avatar due to unfortunate deaths, and such things as universal balance seem impossible when children are forced to fight in a war. To some Zuko may seem a poor choice for Avatar but with some help he may be able to save the world, or at least keep it from burning to the ground.⚠️ This is a very dark and very bloody version of the ATLA we all love. Be warned there is some very heavy topics that are NOT gracefully discussed. Do not read if any of the tags bother you!! ⚠️
Comments: 9
Kudos: 44





	1. Chapter 1

Fire, water, earth, air. Long ago the four nations lived together in peace, then one day the fire nation attacked. On the day of the southern air temple attack monk Aang was sent on a mission to deliver warnings to the other temples. 

However, well he was on his way a storm came and forced him off his path. He and his bison crashed into the ocean below. The moon and ocean both heard his fearful plea for life and took pity on him. They froze the water around him, keeping him alive for the next 100 years. Though, due to this accident non of the other temples were prepared for the coming attacks and the young avatar was slaughtered with his people. 

As the young monk drew his last breath a girl in the southern water tribe took her first breath. She was four when the fire nation attacked her tribe for the first time. She was taken and locked away in a metal box, far away from any water or earth. She was kept just alive enough to lift her head when they feed her. She died 81 years later, never knowing she was the Avatar. 

Then in Omashu a young boy was born. He was found to be the avatar at age four and his family decided to move to Ba Sing Se to find masters for him. They where intercepted on the way and the small family was slaughtered. That same night princess Ursa gave birth to Zuko, first born son of Ozai, prince of the fire nation. 

Thus Zuko was born the avatar, some may think he was a poor choice as far as avatars go, but I believe Zuko can save the world.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter discusses child abuse. I have no beta reader so please help me out in the comments.

When Zuko was six he was practicing lighting a fire in his hands one winter evening. Mai sat and watched as he made the flame larger and smaller with each inhale and exhale. 

“Ah it’s cold!” The young girl whined, shivering. Zuko smiled and focused on heating the air around them. He gave the heat a push and it created a small gust of wind. Mai giggled. “It’s like airbending!” She laughed. Ozai, who had watched the incident stomped towards his son.

Zuko was dragged away from the courtyard and through the palace halls. When Ursa saw this she chased after, begging for her husband to not hurt their son. The mother was struck for speaking out to her husband.

“Take her to my quarters, lock the door.” Ozai demanded. He then threw his son into an old closet and locked the door as his son screamed in fear.

Zuko was left in the pitch black closet for seven days. He was unable to feel the sun rise and set, and was only fed dried fruit and meats slid under the door by someone. He was forced to use an empty mop bucket as a toilet and an old mildewed blanket to cover himself when he slept. Dehydration made him woozy and sick by the second day and the only water he got was from a spilled dish bucket that crashed outside the door. 

When the seventh day came to an end the door swung open for a still seething Ozai to glare down at the sobbing, filthy child that was his firstborn son. 

“Clean him and put his back in his rooms.” Ozai ordered as he walked back to his own rooms. Servants rushed to the boy and quickly took him to the bath house. 

It was still dark out by time they had properly cleaned the boy. His small body limp and almost doll like as they let the healers look at him. Maggots had burrowed into the flesh of his legs due to him not being able to clean himself properly and being covered in his own feces. His body was so weak that the healers didn’t believe he would make it to morning. Then, to everyone’s surprise, he was awake when the sun rose in the morning. 

Servants whispered that he was like a Phoenix, that he could recover from anything and live to become even better than before.

When next Zuko joined his family for a meal his mother had an arm in a cast and a bruised jaw. Azula laughed at them both.

Some nights Zuko sat and listened to his mother sob in fear as the moon bathed the young princes room in soft white light. Those nights Zuko read scrolls of firebending theory and form. He may not have understood it all but he pushed his limits to become a bender like Azula. When she flipped through the air gracefully he took notes and when night came he practiced the form until his legs gave out.

When Iroh returned from Ba Sing Se Zuko felt like all would be better. He made the mistake of believing Ozai would not hurt them with his brother there. Of course he was wrong and the day after his mother fled the fire nation and his grandfather died Zuko once again found himself in a dark closet.


End file.
